Illegal dumping at final disposal sites in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture and Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture - January 2000

Illegal dumping at final disposal sites in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture and Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture - January 2000

Illegal dumping of industrial waste at final disposal sites in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, and around Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, has become a serious problem. In Ishinomaki City, in particular, it has been discovered that construction waste materials, including waste plastic and asbestos, are being illegally dumped in quantities exceeding the disposal site's allowable amount. This dumping amounted to 5,000 tons per year, and local residents are increasingly concerned about health hazards and groundwater contamination. In response, the prefectural government has announced a plan to invest a total of 100 million yen to investigate soil and groundwater contamination in the area surrounding the disposal site.

Meanwhile, a demolition company was found to have illegally dumped industrial waste containing dioxins and PCBs, which are difficult to dispose of, at a disposal site near Morioka City. Investigations revealed that the total amount of illegally dumped waste amounted to approximately 2,000 tons, some of which had also leaked along the coast. This has raised concerns about the impact on marine ecosystems.

In Miyagi Prefecture, illegal practices are rampant, particularly among some construction companies that dump waste materials at disposal sites without properly disposing of them. The companies in question have been named as an anonymous construction company and an anonymous industrial company. These companies are alleged to have been disposing of waste through inexpensive, illegal routes in order to reduce disposal costs, and are expected to face fines of up to 50 million yen for violations.

Furthermore, it is estimated that Iwate Prefecture generated approximately 7,000 tons of industrial waste annually in 1999, of which more than 30% was disposed of illegally. In response, the prefecture plans to hasten the introduction of a waste management system and strengthen its crackdown on illegal waste disposers.